And I agree with you about the supervisors on GS. They really work hard to keep things civil and welcoming, and the members live up to their standards. I've seen commentary on YouTube (under the videos) that almost give me blisters, and I realize how lucky we are here at GS because people just don't do that here.

So we Daisuke fans can have the best time possible, and those of us who aren't Japanese have the opportunity to learn all sorts of things we wouldn't have a chance of finding out on our own.

Reminder: as I mentioned before, I am NO expert in translating English <-> Japanese. Please ignore grammatical errors if any.
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Fyi, 'Friends Plus' is a 60min. TV program focused on Shizuka Arakawa, as the Olympic Champion, as a professional skater, as the show producer ('Friends on Ice'), and as a person.
Shizuka somtimes invites one of her friends at a time as her guest, and gives an interview. This season (2011-12), she already invited Nobuo Sato, Shae-Lynn Bourne, Takeshi Honda and Yamato Tamura, and the final guest of the season was Daisuke, whom Shiz admires and treats as if were her 'younger brother'.

<1> Prologue

After the most successful season (2009-10) in his whole career, with the historic Olympic bronze medal and winning the Worlds as the first Japanese male skater, Shizuka also gave an interview to Dai around the same time of last season (January 2011).

As some of you remember, January 2011 was probably one of harder times for Dai; right after the neck/back injury due to the unexpected collision and the disappointing 5th place finish at GPF, another disappointing 3rd place finish at the Nats and losing its title to Takahiko.

Shizuka asked a question, "The new year 2011, what do you think is gonna be like for you, Dai?"
He answered, "Well, this year (2011) is going to be very important for me... concerning my future,...indeed,... to decide whether to continue... or stop (competing)..." "If I choose to continue, there will be a lot for me to deal with and catch up with, considering my position among the current Mens field. If I decide to retire, there will be other things and people I feel obligated to, so I have to weigh it very carefully, you know."

Dai looked so unsure about himself to the eyes of many people during last year's interview.

When Shiz asked Dai about his program preparation for 'Friends on Ice' that summer, he even suggested, "it sounds interesting to have a poll and ask fans, doesn't it? Something like, 'what programs of mine from the past would you like me to skate for you?'" Then Shiz and Dai talked cheerfully, "We have five outings in total at FOI. Let's do one at a time from the 5th for the first outing, then onto 4th, 3rd, 2nd. And save the 1st favored program for the closing night of the shows!"

My guess at that time was, he was leaning towards retiring from competitive skating.

At Worlds in Moscow later that season, after the disastrous earthquakes and tsunamis in Japan and cancel-off of Worlds in Tokyo, another unexpected insident hit Dai; a screw loosened up from left boot at the beginning of his Free Skate and he had to settle with 5th place finish there.

That changed everything.

Dai felt that he did not give his absolute best just yet, that he still had energy and competitive fire within, and he believed he could still keep improving to be a better skater. The next day Dai announced that he will continue three more seasons till Sochi, and his goal is to join the National team for the Olympic Games (he was not sure if he could make it, because of such depth in Mens field in Japan), and to aim for a medal if possible.

After removing a screw from the injured right knee in May, Dai and his team checked on his overall skating going all the way down to the basics.

In summer he flew to Lyon, France to relearn skating skill from the world-renowned ice dance coaches; Messieur-dames Muriel Boucher-Zazoui, Romain Haguenauer, and Olivier Schoenfelder.
He went to David Wilson for a new chreography to extend the range of his stlyes.

In autumn, he started ballet excercises to focus more on core strength and flexibility, which was something he always felt inferiror to others since as a kid skater.

Dai showed up to Shizuka's interview this year, looking very young and refreshed, with sparkling eyes full of energy.

Shizuka's first question.
"Tell me. What is it that interests you the most now? And that interests you the least now, or in other words, you find it very hard?"

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to be continued...sorry my time is up for today.

Yes, he has already had "it"!
This is a very rare video, that's why I posted it here. Even Japanese fans, like me, haven't had a chance to see this program before, though we knew that Daisuke once skated to "What a Wonderful World". Thank you so much for sharing this video.

The difficult part for me to translate Dai's answers, is he does not say much even in Japanese. By referring to his other interviews from the past, I read between the lines, and add some words to make it more sense in English.

When asked about things which he does not want to talk, and/or does not want to share with others for the time being, he does not talk at all, or talk as little as he can. And when forced to answer by the Japanese media sometimes, he either gives noncommittal answers in general in a polite manner, or just adopts neutral attitude. But Dai always tries to treat the media equally, face them and answer with honesty, however the least he is gonna to tell, he tells no lies. Thus the media seldom bashes him or writes him off, regardless of his good results or not. The same goes for Mao and the media, I think.

Reminder: as I mentioned before, I am NO expert in translating English <-> Japanese. Please ignore grammatical errors if any.
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<2>
Dai: "The hardest thing for me is get up early every morning, in time for trainings..." "The thing I enjoy the most right now is stretch excercises!"
Shiz: "Did you say STRETCH??? (Knowing you almost ten years), I never expected a word stretch from you..."

Dai often referrs himself as 'stretch maniac' these days.

Dai: "I got zero flexibility in the past you know, but am getting my muscles more flexible. Very happy with that."
Shiz: "Yes, I can see it when you skate. You skate more fluently, using your whole body more freely than before."
Dai: "I feel it myself, too. I can dance much easier on the ice. I am getting little by littel to my image of 'the ideal dance for me'. But it is still a work in progress. I was that unflexible. I have a long way to get there."
Shiz: "What impresses me is we can clearly see your exercises does help your skating. We already see the change in your skating.
There are a lot of training methods and exercises available for every athletes to choose from. For skaters, however, what we do on the ground does not always help much what we do on the ice. Some of excercises on the ground may cause bad effects to skating, owing to its unique nature of figure skating as a sport. We have to be very careful when making an option."

Shiz: "What is it, that interests you the most in skating now, or the thing you feel excited about the most?"
Dai: "Many of male skaters go for quads at every competiton! Now we see more quads attempts. A quad after quad, it's so exciting to watch, isn't it?
A little while ago, many would prefer a rather conservative strategy once competition starts. Now we all go out and attack it to win, trying to hit all jumps, rather than being conservative for cleaner skates. I really like it!"
Shiz: "No one can be conservative in Mens field anymore. It seems to me, a sort of easier for skaters to include a quad/s as a primarily planned element. They donot have to weigh it (=go for a quad or skip it) depending on the progress of the competition, because everyone knows that no one's gonna be conservative."
Dai: "Yes! There was once a negative opinion for being aggressive and taking a risk for harder elements, which is something I found incongurous (=inappropiate?) in order to win. It's a competition. Competition is what I do now. I do it as an athlete on its top form. (=Time for competitive skating is limited, we cannot do it forever.)
Of course, I am not the type of person who always against the conservative strategy no matter what. (=It depends on the situations, such as competing while injured or sick.) But if it is to happen at every single competition, I donot like it. I feel uncomfortable. I would prefer go aggressive if I want to win.
While I like the current 'going for all' situation of Mens field, it also gives me a hard time (because of my unstable quads)..."
Shiz: "I agree. Very exciting for us, the spectators to watch such aggressive competitions again. Also, even after the change of evaluation system into COP years ago, we still get to see different types of skates and skaters in Mens field."
Dai: "I like that, too. Such wide range in styles in Mens field."
Shiz: "Under COP, they value a total package. COP demands higher levels on all elements. That makes it more exciting to watch."
Dai: "I know. I feel for the skaters, me included, for that matter though..."

Yes, he has already had "it"!
This is a very rare video, that's why I posted it here. Even Japanese fans, like me, haven't had a chance to see this program before, though we knew that Daisuke once skated to "What a Wonderful World". Thank you so much for sharing this video.

Carignan, same to me.
I did not know that program, either.

Not much on Yuotube we find Dai's programs from 2002-03 season, his first year on Senior circuit...First time for me to watch that one.
Thanks a million for posting it!